The industrial finishing of hardcover books is predominantly carried out on book production lines on which book blocks are each combined with an associated book cover to produce finished books. During “casing-in”, i.e. when the book cover is bonded to the book block, the exact joining of their edges is crucial for a harmonious binding. Therefore, the prior adjustment and if necessary, shaping, of the central region of the book cover, i.e. the spine region, which receives the spine of the book block in the finished book, is of importance for a high quality of book. Of similar importance is the shaping of the folded regions of the book cover which directly adjoin the central region on either side and later constitute the opening hinges of the finished book. The requirements for the shaping of the book cover, which is carried out under the effect of heat in each case, and therefore for the shaping tool used for this purpose, differ according to whether the finished book has a rounded or angular spine and according to the form of the rounding and according to the thickness of the book.
A device for rounding book covers, which have an insert in the spine region, in a book casing-in machine is known from DE19853254 A1. In this device, the spine region of the book cover is pressed against an elastically deformable supporting surface by means of a heated shaping tool. In this case, the spine region is rounded and the pressed-in folding regions are made flexible. Normally, the shaping tools are kept ready in conventional shape-dependent tiers and when the spine shape of the book cover or the thickness category of the associated book block changes they are swapped over. The newly inserted shaping tools, however, are not yet at an operating temperature and must therefore first be heated up after being installed.
EP1350634 A2 discloses a shaping tool for producing books having rounded spines, which comprises a rectangular frame having a plurality of adjacent lamellae that are adjustable relative to the height of the frame and also can be heated via the lateral parts of the frame. The lamellae can, however, only be heated with considerable sluggishness due to their mobility and the necessary height.
An apparatus for shaping book covers for books having straight spines is known from EP2325020 A1. The shaping tool of said apparatus, which are interchangeable depending on the thickness category of the books to be produced in each case, has two shaping rails which stand vertically, are spaced apart from one another, and each rest on a tool beam by means of a base rail. In order to form the spine region of the book cover and the folding regions provided on either side of the spine region, the shaping rails are raised together with their tool beam from a lowered position at a distance from the book cover to be shaped, which is initially still in an outstretched state, against counter shaping rails arranged thereabove. To shape the book cover, heat is applied via the shaping tool. For this purpose, the tool beam carrying the shaping tool rests on an intermediate element, which is designed as a heating element and is equipped with heating rods. The shaping tool is both brought up to an operating temperature and kept at this temperature by the heating element.
In addition to a first shaping tool for book covers of books having straight spines, EP2923852 A2 also discloses a second shaping tool for book covers for books having round spines. Using the second shaping tool, the spine region of a book cover can be rounded while it is being raised from its outstretched position, it being possible to produce different formats and contours of the spine region. Because the shaping tools are equipped with identical interfaces, they can, if required, i.e. in the case of a change of order from shaping of book covers for books having straight spines to shaping of book covers for books having rounded spines, be interchanged. In this case, however, shaping of the book cover using heat application via the relevant shaping tool is not disclosed.